A. Information about the Institute

Establishment of the Institute

The College became a self-governing entity on 1 January 1993, having previously been an educational institution under the control of the City of Cork Vocational Education Committee. The Regional Technical Colleges Act, 1992 also provided for two other educational establishments under the control of the VEC to be established as schools of the Regional Technical College, namely the Cork School of Music and the Crawford College of Art and Design.

On 18 December 1997 the College was redesignated “Cork Institute of Technology” by Mr Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Education and Science.

In 1998 CIT was reviewed by an international review group and as a result of their recommendations the Government empowered the Institute in 1999 to award its own Diplomas and Certificates consequent on a procedure agreed with the National Council for Educational Awards. This was the first step in the delegation of authority to make its own educational awards to Cork Institute of Technology.

In October 2004, the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork accepted its first cohort of students. The Department of Nautical Studies situated at the Bishopstown Campus of CIT transferred to the Ringaskiddy facility. The NMCI is a constituent college of CIT in a partnership with the Irish Naval Service and Focus Education Ltd. The College caters for the education and training needs of the merchant navy and the non-military training requirements of the Naval Service, and provides a broad range of training services for the maritime industry. Focus Education Ltd is the private partner with responsibility for facilities management at the College.

In June 2005, the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC) delegated full award authority to the Institute for all its Taught Programmes up to and including Level 9 (Taught Masters) of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI).

HETAC delegated full award authority to the Institute to make awards at Level 9 (Research Masters) in various Engineering and Science disciplines in June 2005.

On 19 September 2005, HETAC delegated awarding authority to CIT to award its own PhD degrees thus completing the Levels 8, 9, and 10 awarding authority. The delegation was done with the agreement of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) and applied to fields of learning where the Institute has been accredited to maintain a research register. CIT now has degree awarding powers that are comparable to universities in Ireland. Having awarding authority up to PhD level will contribute to the ongoing development of leading-edge research in Science and Engineering in CIT.

The Minister for Education and Science signed an Order to commence the Institutes of Technology Act 2006 with effect from 1 February 2007. The new legislation brings the country’s fourteen Institutes of Technology, including the State’s largest third-level institute, the Dublin Institute of Technology, under the remit of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for the first time. Until then, the HEA had only funding responsibility for the seven universities and certain smaller designated institutions.

The commencement of this legislation marked a historic milestone for the higher education system in Ireland. It was another major step in the development of the Institutes of Technology as hugely significant providers of higher learning opportunities from sub-degree right through to doctoral level.

Roles, Responsibilities and Functions

Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) is a leading higher education institution based in Cork City on the south coast of Ireland.

CIT and its antecedents have been associated with education in Cork and the broader region since the 1830s. The Institute offers a wide range of flexible full-time and part-time higher education courses (at all levels up to and including PhD) in art & design, business, engineering, humanities, music, maritime studies, and science & information technology.

The main CIT campus is located in Bishopstown, Cork. The CIT Crawford College of Art and Design and the CIT Cork School of Music are both located at campuses in Cork city centre. The National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) is located on the shores of Cork Harbour in Ringaskiddy.

Our student population of more than 15,000 enjoys excellent support, social and sporting facilities, including a purpose-built student centre, sports stadium, gymnasium, medical centre and learning support centre.

CIT has a number of vibrant and successful research, innovation, knowledge exchange and enterprise support centres which have had many notable achievements, and have been successful in attracting Irish, EU and international funding. Among these are the Rubicon business incubation centre, the Genesis enterprise support programme, the NIMBUS research centre and the CIT Extended Campus.